Many people get into the realm of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies because its something different. They have might have traded stocks or foreign exchange in the past and are looking for something new and exciting. Which the cryptocurrency market can definitely provide.
But what if you want to go in reverse? You already hold some Bitcoin and maybe the crypto market is having a downturn, Tesla’s valuation is going through the roof and you want in on the action.
Well look no further than this guide. We will show you the simple 3 step process for how to buy and trade stocks with Bitcoin
- Creating an Account
- Depositing Your Bitcoin
- Buying Stocks with Your Bitcoin
1) Creating an Account
To buy and trade stocks with Bitcoin we first need a platform to trade said stocks on. The platform we will using in this guide and the one we recommend is SimpleFX. After looking through a variety of potential options SimpleFX is the one that has the greatest number of tradeable equities on their platform. Not only from the US but also British, French, German, and Japanese.
In terms of US equities it has 35+ to from. Including nearly all the majors from Tesla, Apple, and Google to Boeing, Netflix, and Nvidia. The platform also has support for trading a variety of commodities, precious metals, forex, indices, and cryptocurrencies if you ever want to change things up.
Registering an Account
Creating an account on SimpleFX is very straighforward. Click the link below to be brought to the sign up page.
Once there you will be brought to the homepage. From there click ‘Create Account’ in the top right hand corner of the screen.
Once done you will be brought to the account registry box. You can sign up through Facebook, Google, Telegram, Twitter, and of course email which we will be using. Simply enter in your account email and password like any other account. Agree to the terms and conditions and click ‘Create Account’.
You will then receive an email to confirm your account registration, find the email and click ‘Verify’.
2) Depositing Your Bitcoin
The next step is depositing funds to trade. Again this is like any other Bitcoin transaction. Firstly once fully signed you will want to click the depsoit button in the bottom left corner of the screen. This will bring up the potential options.
You can choose from Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, Monero, and Tether. This article is entitled how to trade Stocks with Bitcoin so we will use Bitcoin however the process is the same with other cryptocurrencies.
To deposit your Bitcoin click the Bitcoin logo. You will then see the details for depositing on the right read through them to confirm you are okay. Then click deposit. Once done you should see the screen below.
From here its exactly like any other Bitcoin transaction. Either scan the QR code with your Bitcoin wallet app or copy and paste the address into your wallet. Double check the wallet address is correct and hit send.
3) Buying Stocks with your Bitcoin
Once you have waited a while and your Bitcoin has been successfully deposited you can start trading stocks right away. As long as the market is open that is!
Trading on SimpleFX might be a little different than your previous trading platforms you have used so we recommend playing around with demo trading to get a feel for things. To access Bitcoin demo trading click the Bitcoin icon in the top right hand corner of the screen. From here you can change between demo trading and live trading.
Selecting Markets
To start trading you will want to first find a market you are interested in trading. You can scroll through the list of available markets via the tab on the right. Markets are organized by category, Once you click the dropdown menu the full list of markets will show.
Alternatively you can use the search function at the top of the screen. Using the search bar you can also filter by exchange, country, and asset type.
Placing a Trade
Once you have selected a market you want to trade simply click ‘Place Order’ and the following order entry menu will be brought up.
At the top you are obviously given to main options. Buy or Sell. Below that then you have the options to use a market order or a pending order. A market order will immediately either buy or sell your chosen asset at the current market rate. A pending order will give you the option to buy or sell at a certain price.
Below that in the ‘Units’ you can decide how much of your chosen asset you want to buy.
Required margin shows the minimum amount of margin you need to place a trade. Free margin shows the total amount of margin you have available.
With take profit you can set the price or point movement at which your trade will automatically close in profit. Stop loss does the same except you set the price or point movement your trade will close to prevent further loss.
Margin Trading
SimpleFX also has support for highly levered margin trading. When you are placing the amount of units of a stock you want to buy the ‘Available’ figure shows the amount of stocks you could buy with the Maximum amount of leverage.
I currently have funded my account with roughly 0.3BTC yet I can get exposure to over 1317 Apple shares. In dollars my 0.3BTC can get me exposure to nearly 175,000$. 50x my initial margin.
DO NOT use this amount of leverage unless you know exactly what you are doing. Even if only using small amount of leverage be very careful. If price turns sharply against you there is a risk that your entire trade value could be liquidated. If you are not experienced with leverage trading keep the ‘Trade Value’ roughly equal to the ‘Free Margin’.
Closing and Monitoring Trades
Once you first place a trade your order might appear in the ‘Pending’ tab down the bottom. If price reaches your order your order will be filled and will appear in ‘Open’. Here you can see the order details including your order price and profit and loss.
Conclusion
If you have made it this far pat yourself on the back. You now know how to buy and trade stocks with Bitcoin. In the next section we will clarify some questions you may have about the SimpleFX platform.
As always when trading make sure your risk is managed well. The typical rule is to not risk more then 2% of your account per trade.
